Jose Castillo | Third Baseman

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Jose Castillo is expected to miss two games after suffering a shoulder strain Saturday.

Castillo is hoping to make the Nationals as a utility infielder. "It's going to be a couple of days before he can swing a bat," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "He really jammed his shoulder when he hit the ground, but the shoulder is not dislocated." Sat, Mar 7, 2009 06:14:00 PM

Nationals signed infielder Jose Castillo to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

It's like they pulled off a trade with the Astros, with Houston getting Aaron Boone. Castillo, who spent most of last year as the Giants' primary third baseman before moving on to Houston, hit .246/.292/.376 in 426 at-bats. He'll be fortunate to make the Nationals as a bench player. Tue, Dec 23, 2008 08:38:00 PM

Free agent Jose Castillo homered twice and drove in four runs Saturday for Caracas of the VWL.

Castillo has four homers and 21 RBI after 16 games. He had just six homers and 37 RBI in 127 major league games last season. Sun, Nov 16, 2008 02:57:00 AM

Jose Castillo homered and doubled in a second straight game for Caracas of the VWL on Wednesday.

That makes him 4-for-14 after four games. Castillo is a minor league free agent after being removed from the Astros' 40-man roster three weeks ago. A team would have to be pretty desperate to give him a chance to compete for a starting job next spring, but he'll probably have a bench spot somewhere. Thu, Oct 30, 2008 02:50:00 PM

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Nationals signed infielder Jose Castillo to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training.

It's like they pulled off a trade with the Astros, with Houston getting Aaron Boone. Castillo, who spent most of last year as the Giants' primary third baseman before moving on to Houston, hit .246/.292/.376 in 426 at-bats. He'll be fortunate to make the Nationals as a bench player.

Jose Castillo homered and doubled in a second straight game for Caracas of the VWL on Wednesday.

That makes him 4-for-14 after four games. Castillo is a minor league free agent after being removed from the Astros' 40-man roster three weeks ago. A team would have to be pretty desperate to give him a chance to compete for a starting job next spring, but he'll probably have a bench spot somewhere.

Even with Ty Wigginton moving to the outfield, Castillo received just 32 at-bats in 5 1/2 weeks on the Astros' roster. He ended up hitting .246/.292/.376 in 426 at-bats combined for the Giants and Astros. He'll become a free agent and compete for a spot on some team's bench next spring.

Claimed off waivers from the Marlins during spring training, Castillo posted a .244/.290/.381 line in 394 at-bats for San Francisco, with just a .934 fielding percentage at third. The 27-year-old is likely nearing the end of the line.

Jose Castillo had two hits and two RBI as the Giants held on to beat the Dodgers 7-6 on Monday.

The Giants jumped out to a 7-0 lead before nearly giving it all back. If they weren't so incedibly efficient then it would have been a loss for sure. The Giants had nine singles, no extra-base hits and just one walk in the contest. Three singles and a sacrifice led to two runs in the third, and the other six hits all came during a five-run fourth inning.

Jose Castillo had a game-ending infield single as the Giants beat the Padrss 4-3 in 10 innings on Sunday.

After the Padres scored twice in the top of the 10th, the Giants came back with three off Trevor Hoffman. Fred Lewis tied the game with a two-run triple, and Castillo ended it when shortstop Edgar Gonzalez could do nothing with his bases-loaded grounder. It was Castillo's lone hit in five at-bats on the day.

Jose Castillo went 4-for-4 with a double and three runs scored versus the Phillies on Saturday.

The Giants also received three-hit games from Omar Vizquel, Randy Winn and Aaron Rowand in the game. The rest of the two combined for two hits, one of them coming from starter Tim Lincecum. Castillo's big game pushed his average back over .250 and his OBP over .300. He hasn't been any good as a regular for the Giants this season, but it's still better that he's playing than Rich Aurilia.

Jose Castillo broke a 2-2 tie with his first homer of the year in the bottom of the seventh to lead the Giants to a 3-2 win over the Rockies on Wednesday.

A rare highlight for the former Pirate. Castillo hit a lot of doubles early on, but he's been a pretty awful regular overall. He committed his fifth error today, and he's hitting .222/.280/.374 in 99 at-bats. The Giants would almost surely be better off with Justin Leone at third base, not that Leone would be part of their future plans, either. Maybe they'll find someone better on the waiver wire later on.

San Francisco has five extra-base hits in four games, three of them belonging to Castillo. Bengie Molina's homer in the seventh today was the first that wasn't a double. The Giants have used Castillo at third and Rich Aurilia at first in each of their games so far. Castillo will have at least a little value in NL-only leagues if the trend holds up.

This is nothing more than a paperwork move to clear a 40-man roster spot for outfielder Alejandro De Aza. Turner took on-field batting practice Tuesday for the first time since fracturing his right wrist in late June. He won't be ready for activation for at least another couple of weeks.

Jayson Werth (foot) is reporting to the Nationals' spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Florida.

He'll work out there for the next couple of days before possibly embarking on a minor league rehab assignment over the weekend. Werth has been on the disabled list since early June with a bone bruise in his left foot. The veteran outfielder should be ready for activation around the final week of August or first week of September, assuming he can avoid setbacks.

Nationals activated OF Ryan Raburn from the bereavement list; placed him on the 10-day disabled list with a left trapezius strain.

Raburn was placed on the bereavement list on Sunday to allow him time to mourn the passing of his grandfather. It is unclear just when he suffered the trapezius strain which is now sending him to the disabled list. There is no current timetable for Raburn's return.

Nationals placed OF Brian Goodwin on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to August 14, with a left groin strain.

The injury comes with bad timing for Goodwin, who had been drawing regular starts in the Nationals' outfield. He owns a cool .811 OPS with 13 home runs and six stolen bases in 74 games this season. Alejandro De Aza has been called up from Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding 25-man roster move.

Eaton also said that he hasn't ruled out returning to the Nationals' active roster during the postseason, but that doesn't seem very likely to happen. The 28-year-old center fielder underwent major surgery on May 10 to repair ACL and meniscus tears in his left knee. It's a procedure that typically requires 6-9 months of rest and rehab, sometimes a full year.

Nationals placed OF Bryce Harper on the 10-day disabled list with a bone bruise in his left knee.

Harper suffered the injury Saturday after slipping on the first base bag while trying to beat out a grounder in the bottom of the first inning. The good news is an MRI revealed no ligament or tendon damage, but the bad news is the 24-year-old MVP candidate will likely be sidelined until mid-to-late September. Michael Taylor has been activated in a corresponding 25-man roster move.

Stephen Strasburg (elbow) is expected to return Saturday against the Padres.

He'll return to the mound in his home city of San Diego after missing roughly three weeks with an elbow impingement. Strasburg looked sharp in his lone rehab start, fanning five over five innings of one-run ball Monday for High-A Potomac. The former first overall pick has been steady as ever this year, going 10-3 with a 3.28 ERA over 20 starts for the first-place Nats.

Ross is done for 2017, and the majority of 2018. The 24-year-old right-hander entered this season with high expectations, but he pitched to a 5.01 ERA in 72 2/3 innings and has a long road back to fantasy relevance. Ross is scheduled to become arbitration-eligible in 2019.

Shawn Kelley was activated in the corresponding move. The move was made retroactive to Monday and the Nats are hoping to have Madson back when first-eligible next week. The right-hander sports a perfect 0.00 ERA over nine relief outings since coming over in a trade with the Athletics last month.

Koda Glover (back, shoulder) has been rehabbing at the Nationals' spring training facility in West Palm Beach.

Glover plans to ramp up his activity after getting good news from his doctor earlier this week. As of last week, he was throwing up to 100 feet on flat ground. A rotator cuff injury has sidelined Glover since June 11.

He retired the side in the sixth inning, recording one strikeout over 14 pitches. The 26-year-old looks ready to rejoin the Nats' bullpen after missing the past couple of weeks with a strained forearm. He holds a 3.99 ERA across 47 1/3 innings for Washington this season.